


After All These Years

by ianlipgallagher (mdobbs1614)



Series: Prompts [47]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Celebrity Ian, Famous Ian, Fluff, M/M, Movie Star Ian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-07 13:38:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8802973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdobbs1614/pseuds/ianlipgallagher
Summary: Prompt: Years later Ian became some big-shot celeb in his 40s/50s, in an interview he was asked what the biggest regret of his life was, of course that had to be him letting Mickey go with the guy that was there for him when Ian wasn't, Ian never found anyone serious relationship-wise from then on, and after the interview, Yev reached out to Ian and told him that Mickey's long-time partner was recently deceased, I just want a cheesy scene with Ian and Mickey saying "hey" in the dawn sunlight<3





	1. Chapter 1

 

“Well, hello everyone!” The talk show host greets with fake enthusiasm. “With me today is Mr. Ian Gallagher himself!"

 

Ian smiles, waving to the live audience and trying not to roll his eyes. 

 

Ian had been a local model in Chicago all throughout his twenties and thirties. He mainly did print ads for smaller boutiques and some national alternative ads for companies looking for someone outside the ‘tall, dark and handsome’ cliche. 

 

However, his career changed when he was 42. One of his favorite photographers decided to try his hand in directing and chose Ian as his lead without even auditioning him. 

 

Of course the first movie wasn’t a breakout success, but it did fairly well at national film festivals and before Ian knew it, he was the talk of the Indie movie circuit. 

 

It wasn’t until he was 44 and cast in the new post-apocalypse trilogy that he really became a household name. 

 

The third movie in the trilogy is being released in two weeks, so Ian’s been doing interviews all day and each one is exactly the same. 

 

“So, Ian, tell us. Are you sad that this is the last movie?” The host asks. 

 

“Of course.” Ian nods. “You really do become a family and I’m going to miss seeing Shelley and Tara everyday.” 

 

“You obviously mean your co-stars Shelley Johnson and Tara McClure. All of you are phenomenal in these movies."

 

“Thank you. They are so much fun to film.” Ian smiles. 

 

He spends the rest of the interview pretty much on autopilot. He could answer all of her generic questions in his dreams. He nods and laughs at the appropriate times, but his head is elsewhere. That’s why her final question catches him off guard. 

 

“M-my what?"

 

“What’s your biggest regret? Like an opportunity you didn’t take or a mistake you made."

 

“Wow.” Ian huffs, making the audience laugh. “Um, well, if I’m being honest. There was a guy once. He was-. I mean-. He's the love of my life and I let him slip away. I left and I regret it everyday.” 

 

“Hmm. Would this be the gorgeous Brett Taylor that you’re referring to?” 

 

This time Ian really does roll his eyes. He dated Brett for one month, but the paparazzi (and the internet) loved it. That was three years ago, but everyone still thinks that they are star crossed lovers. 

 

“Oh no. No.” Ian assures her. “This was a guy from my old neighborhood. I dated him when I was younger, but he was anything but a teenage fling.”

 

“Well, Ian. It was great to have you here. Thank you so much for coming to see us.”

 

Ian’s mind is already a million miles away. He’d been trying for years to just forget Mickey and move on, but there was a reason he had never gotten married in his 48 years of living and it wasn’t for lack of trying.  

 

The cameraman calls cut and Ian springs out of his seat, not sparing the host a second glance. He walks swiftly back to his dressing room and collapses on the couch inside. 

 

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

Ian sighs, but answers his phone nonetheless. 

 

“The fuck was that, Ian?” Lip bellows. Lip became his manager when Ian was still doing small modeling gigs. Neither of them knew that Ian’s career was going to take off and suddenly Lip would have a full time job. 

 

“I’m sorry. She caught me off guard and it all came spilling out.” Ian explains. 

 

“Well, the good news is that the people will love this soft, gushy moment. You just better hope that Mickey doesn’t have a TV or he’s gonna know that you’ve been in love with him for thirty years.” 

 

Lip hangs up, leaving Ian to wonder if that would even be a bad thing. 

 

*

 

“Dad! Dad! Come in here!” Yevgeny yells from his spot of the couch. He and his girlfriend are visiting Mickey for the weekend, but really that means his girl goes shopping while he and Mickey watch TV. They've been coming around a lot more after Justin died. It’s been two years and Mickey seems fine, but Yevgeny stills worries about him. 

 

“You gotta see this, Dad! Come on!” Yevgeny repeats. 

 

“I’m here. I’m here. Jesus.” Mickey looks up at the screen and sees Ian Gallagher’s face. Who knew that all of a sudden in his forties, his ex’s face would be on every TV and movie screen all the time. 

 

“You told me you knew Ian, right?” Yevgeny asks.

 

“Yeah.” Mickey grumbles. 

 

“Then listen to this!” Yevgeny rewinds the show and presses play. 

 

_"Well, if I’m being honest. There was a guy once. He was-. I mean-. He's the love of my life and I let him slip away. I left and I regret it everyday."_

“Holy shit.” Mickey whispers, leaning closer to the TV.

 

_"This was a guy from my old neighborhood. I dated him when I was younger, but he was anything but a teenage fling."_

 

“Dad, who is he talking about? Did you know who he was in love with?” Yevgeny asks. He looks at his dad and finds him frozen in his spot, staring at the TV. “Dad?"

 

“Huh? Oh, no. I don’t know who he’s talking about. I’m gonna go…” Mickey trails off, making his way to his room. 

 

Yevgeny frowns. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think his dad was lying right then. But if he does know who Ian was in love with then why wouldn’t h-. Oh. 

 

“No fucking way.” Yevgeny whispers. 

 

*

 

Ian groans as he wakes up. His first thought this morning was remembering that he has a meet and greet today. 

 

His press junket ended two weeks ago only for him to immediately start a US book tour for his autobiography.

 

Today’s venue: Chicago.

 

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

“Lip, before you say anything, listen to me.” Ian starts. “I want you to postpone the next three stops. I’m tired as fuck and I wanna hang out in Chicago for a while. I wanna see my nieces and nephews for more than three seconds.” 

 

Lip laughs. “Already did it, little bro. I had the same thought so don’t worry. We’re here for three weeks.” 

 

Ian grins. “Holy shit, you’re the best sometimes.” 

 

“Only sometimes?” 

 

“Yeah, the rest of the time you’re a total shit-head.” 

 

Ian hangs up without hearing Lip’s response. He still has to shower and get ready before his meet and greet which starts in an hour. Thankfully the venue is only two blocks away. 

 

Ian gets showered and dressed in record time. He takes a deep breath when he sees the line around the building at the bookstore. It’d be really flattering if he wasn’t so damn tired. 

 

He goes through the motions for an hour. ‘How are you?’ ‘Who do I make it out to?’ ‘Thanks for coming!'

 

Thankfully he only has one more hour until he gets a three week break from all this shit. 

 

“Hi! Who do I make it out to?” Ian asks for the millionth time, flipping open the cover of his book.

 

“Yevgeny. Yevgeny Milkovich."

 

Ian scrolls his eyes up to take in the man in front him. He sees an all too familiar smirk and has to stop himself from freaking out. 

 

“Fucking fuck.” He breathes. 

 

“Yeah.” The guy nods. “Think we could talk?” 

 

The last time Ian saw Yevgeny, he was a toddler and now he’s a full grown man. 

 

Ian nods fervently. 

 

“Of course. Just uh-. Go with Mike here. He’ll take you to my room and I’ll meet you there in an hour.” 

 

Yevgeny studies him for one final moment before following the bodyguard. 

 

*

 

Ian stands outside his hotel room, taking a few breaths to steady himself. 

 

He doesn’t know why Yevgeny’s here or what he has to say and Ian is just terrified.

 

Finally, he forces himself to walk inside. 

 

“Fuck.” He whispers upon seeing Yevgeny again. “Sorry, it’s just so weird that you’re grown up."

 

“You knew me?” Yevgeny squints, tilting his head in confusion. 

 

Ian pauses. He knows he needs to be carefully cause he has no clue what Yevgeny could want.

 

“How much do you know?” Ian asks.

 

“About you? My dad just told me once that he knew you from the neighborhood. That you were friends or whatever. It wasn’t until I showed him your interview on The Kelly Morning Show that I discovered that you might’ve been something more. Were you?"

 

Ian sighs. “Look Yev, I don’t want to tell you anything that your dad doesn’t want you to know, okay? Just ask him.” 

 

“Ian, I’m thirty years old. I’m pretty sure that my dad’s not in charge of me anymore.” Yevgeny smiles. 

 

“Still, I don’t want t-"

 

“Just tell me if he’s the one.” Yevgeny interrupts. “Is he the one you regret leaving after all this time?"

 

Ian nods slowly, not looking Yevgeny in the eye.

 

“Okay.” Yevgeny says, standing up and leaving the room.

 

As soon as the door shuts behind him, Ian lays down on his bed. What the fuck does this mean?

 

*

 

Ian spends the next two weeks at Fiona and Jimmy’s. She still lives in the old house and Ian loves visiting. It’s like a time capsule. It makes him feel young again. 

 

This morning, just like every morning, he’s sitting on the stairs as the sun comes up. He loves to just sit here with his eyes closed, taking in the musky Chicago air. 

 

“You know, it’s not really fair that you still look like that.” A familiar voice says. “It’s been thirty years, how have you not aged?” 

 

Ian stares in awe as Mickey climbs the stairs and sits down next to him. 

 

“Hey.” Is all Ian can manage to say. Mickey laughs. 

 

“Hey.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little follow-up to round this story out!

“Holy shit.” Ian pants, rolling off of Mickey and onto his back.

 

Mickey nods, reaching for a cigarette off the nightstand and lighting it. 

 

He takes a puff before passing it to Ian, who grabs it with a smirk on his face. 

 

“You know” Ian starts, as the smoke passes his lips. “I don’t think you can give me shit for a having a young face when you still have the ass of a 20 year old.” 

 

“Oh yeah?” Mickey smiles, leaning on his side and looking over his back at his butt. “It still looks good?” 

 

“Looks fucking great.” Ian grins, smacking his ass and laughing. 

 

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

“Dinner in fifteen minutes, love birds.” Fiona calls through the door. 

 

“Wanna talk about not aging? Fiona is about to hit sixty and she still has more pep than I did during a manic phase when I was younger.” Ian jokes, sitting up and reaching for his clothes. 

 

He looks back at Mickey to see a conflicted look on his face. 

 

“You don’t have to stay for dinner.” Ian offers, recognizing that they only reconnected about an hour ago after spending almost thirty years apart. 

 

Mickey nods, getting dressed as well. 

 

“But I do wanna talk if that’s okay.” Ian adds. 

 

Mickey leans up on his toes to match Ian’s height and places a kiss on his lips. 

 

“Come over when you’re done here.” He breathes, before walking backward toward the bedroom door.

 

“You still at the same place?” Ian asks. 

 

“The one and only.” Mickey smirks as he leaves the house.

 

*

 

Ian barely ate anything at dinner. He’s too anxious about his talk with Mickey. 

 

He’s loved this man for practically his whole life and even the smallest possibility that they could be together again makes Ian wanna laugh, cry, and shit his pants. 

 

Right now, he’s on his way to Mickey’s. His body can’t decide if it wants to run as fast as it can or walk as slow as possible. 

 

When his feet finally land outside the front door of the house that holds about as many memories as the one he grew up in, Ian takes a deep breath. 

 

He lifts his hand to knock, but the door swings open before his knuckles can connect to the wood.

 

“Sorry.” Mickey smiles bashfully. “I saw you walk up. Come on in.” 

 

Ian takes two steps in, only to take a step back in shock. 

 

“Fuck, this place looks different.” Ian breathes. 

 

“Yeah, did a little redecorating a while back.” Mickey says proudly. “If I was gonna live here forever, I wanted it to be unrecognizable from the shithole I grew up in.” 

 

“It is.” Ian nods. “This is like a different planet.” 

 

Mickey grabs a gawking Ian by the elbow and leads him to the couch. They both take a seat, enough distance between them so that they can face one another. 

 

“So?” Mickey says. 

 

“Sooooo” Ian holds out the word. “Tell me what you’ve been up to for three decades. Give me some highlights.” 

 

Mickey rolls his eyes but starts talking. 

 

“Well, Svetlana got deported when Yevgeny was five.” He starts. “She got fake married to like three different people while she was here, but since none of it was official, she didn’t have a green card when the feds came knocking."

 

“Fuck.” Ian whispers. “Have you talked to her at all?” 

 

“Nah, man. I got out of prison like three days before it happened.” Mickey explains. “I came looking for her and Yevgeny both, only for Kev to hand me my damn kid and tell me that Svetlana was gone. She never even sent us a fucking letter or anything so I have no clue where she is.” 

 

“Wow.” Ian shakes his head in disbelief. “What happened next?” He asks, like Mickey’s life is a hallmark movie. 

 

“I raised Yevgeny by myself for a few years. Until I-“ Mickey stops himself, looking up at Ian hesitantly. 

 

“Until what, Mick?” Ian prompts. 

 

“Until I, uh. Until I got married.” Mickey finishes. “When Yev was nine.” 

 

“Oh.” Ian nods, face neutral. “To who?” 

 

“A guy named Justin.” Mickey answers with a small smile. “He was this big goofball who took good care of me and Yevgeny. I wouldn’t have made it through Yev’s teen years without him.” 

 

“Was?” Ian frowns. 

 

“He, uh, he died a few years back.” Mickey explains with glassy eyes. “Cancer. They caught it in a late stage so it happened pretty fast.” 

 

“Fuck, Mick.” Ian breathes, his own eyes clouding up with tears. 

 

Mickey presses the palms of his hands into his face before looking up at Ian and chuckling. 

 

“Jesus Christ, only you would cry over a guy you never met.” Mickey jokes. 

 

“I can’t help it.” Ian protests, blinking away the tears. “He made you happy. If I couldn’t be the one to make you happy, I wanted someone too.” 

 

“Really?” Mickey asks genuinely. 

 

“Of course.” Ian grins. “I was alone for most of that time, but I would never want that for you. Especially since you were raising Yev. You needed someone so I’m happy you had Justin.” 

 

Mickey grabs Ian’s hand gently, intertwining their fingers. Ian smiles before taking on that eager look again. 

 

“Well what else happened?” He prompts. “Thirty years, Mick. There have to be some more important moments.” 

 

“Yevgeny has a serious girlfriend.” Mickey says. “Her name is Charlie. They met in college. They’ve been together for like seven years. I honestly don’t know why they aren’t married or whatever, but as long as Yev’s happy.” 

 

“I can’t believe he’s fucking thirty.” Ian sighs. “He’s older than I was the last time I saw him."

 

“I can’t believe that he tracked you down at a book signing.” Mickey adds. “Noisy fucker.” 

 

“I’m really glad he did though, Mick.” Ian says, squeezing Mickey’s hand. “I’ve been to Chicago a thousand times since I left and the fact that I never even stopped by to make sure that you guys were okay is just fucking idiotic.” 

 

“Hey, I didn’t do any better.” Mickey soothes. “But, uh, at least we’re here now, right? I mean, I know our late 40s aren’t quite the wonder years, but-"

 

“But any time with you is a good time.” Ian finishes. 

 

Mickey smiles and nods in agreement, moving to lay his head on Ian’s shoulder.

 

“So we’re doing this?” Ian asks. “After thirty years apart, we’re doing this thing again?” 

 

“Yeah.” Mickey grins, placing a kiss on Ian’s cheek. “We’re doing this.” 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts and feelings? 
> 
> Hit me up on [my tumblr](http://www.ianmickgallagher.tumblr.com)


End file.
